GPP Podcast: Career Coaching for Budding Advocates, Politicos, Policy Wonks & Social Entrepreneurs

Career consultant Andy Harber joins fellow coach Susan Craig to discuss how to negotiate a starting salary in the mission-driven world. 

Some of the resources they discuss include:

• Glassdoor
• Salary.com
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Also, acronym alert! The CCE stands for the Center for Career Engagement. 

MAY 2026 UPDATE: This process is changing, and fast! The Association of Social Work Boards offers updates - and we'll refresh this episode as soon as we get our head around it. 

Career coach Amber Brown joins Susan to discuss the ins and outs of obtaining a Social Work license. Check out the resources mentioned in the episode:

Association of Social Work Boards - click "getting ready for the exam" for process, cost and timeline specifics

This is information specific to getting a license in Missouri

Here's the study guide Amber recommends: Social Work Licensing Masters Practice Test

Dean Megan Peabody joins Susan to share her thoughts on fellowships. She has great advice on when and how to think about fellowships, where to find them and a few you may never have heard of!

Learn more about WashU's application process and many (but not all!) fellowships available here: https://fellowshipsoffice.wustl.edu/

Are you law school curious? Join Susan and special guest Ahmar Ursani to learn about how to think about and prepare for the possibility.

Here are some of the resources referenced:
WashU Pre-Law Advising - sign up for the emails!
Law School Admission Council

In this short episode, Amy and Susan offer a few tips for how to learn about yourself, your interests, and what environment you work best in while you're doing whatever it is you're doing this summer.  

Here's the website we mention: https://careers.washu.edu/channels/professional-conduct/

2026 Update: Also check out our episode with Andy Harber on salary negotiation.

In this episode, Amy and Susan share tips on handling offers for internships and jobs in government, policy, advocacy, nonprofits, and international affairs. Some resources you might consider using:

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) General Schedule (GS 7 is the rate most undergraduates will enter at while graduate students will enter at GS 9 for MA/MS/Law and GS 11 for PhD).
National Association of Colleges and Employers Salary Data: Note that this is not specific to GPP fields.
Pew Research on Gender Pay Gaps
US Census QWI Explorer

Do you have a LinkedIn profile? Wondering how to get more out of the platform? You can mine it for much more than internship listings, but first you should be your profile in order. Amy and Susan provide tips and tricks to getting the most out of LinkedIn.

LinkedIn offers it own course on how to get started as a student as well! 

Once you're set up, join us in one of our GPSi communities:

• Government and Public Policy Network
• Defense, Aerospace and National Security Network
• Brown School Alumni Academy
• WashU Sustainability Network

Also, WashU CNX is our own private LinkedIn for WashU students and alums. You can bring your LI profile over and find willing connections! It's a smaller pond, but those who are there are interested in being a resource. 

How do you figure out your path when careers in government, policy and social impact are remote and opaque, sometimes intentionally so? This episode was recorded at a workshop Amy gave in 2021 on how to explore these career paths. While perhaps not as slick as our other podcasts, it's jam-packed with insights and is a great first step for anyone from a first year to an alum. Careers only make sense in retrospect, but take your first step toward a dynamic career by listening to and taking one action step from this episode.

Amy is no longer able to work due to ongoing health issues, so we're keeping this episode unedited as a way to honor her. She is the visionary who continues to inform the Government, Policy & Social Impact Career Community's work! And this workshop really encapsulates some of her best insights. 

2026 Updates: Amy and Susan recorded this in COVID times - but much of the virtual interviewing practices remain! We no longer have the live chat option - but you can always drop in to the Center for Career Engagement for some quick interview prep, M-F 9-5. Also, that next episode we meant to record? Never got there...(it was COVID times!)

Amy and Susan provide insight and skills to help you prepare for your interview and land that internship or job. Whether it's your first interview or your tenth, there is something here for you.

Here are additional resources from the WashU's Center for Career Engagement, including the Big Interview resource mentioned in the podcast.

2026 Update: Our career expo (formerly the career fair) now attracts a lot of nonprofits, grad programs and social impact orgs that may interest your student! We also host our own Changemakers Summit in the spring in which we invite local changemakers to campus.

Our 2021 grads asked us to produce an episode just for the parents, family, and friends of students interested in government, policy, advocacy, nonprofit, or international affairs. Amy and Susan explain what you need to know to best support your student!